News » Making food recycling simpler

Making food recycling simpler 10 July, 2017

Making food recycling simpler

In a move to make food waste recycling even easier, plastic bags can now be used by householders to line their kitchen caddy for the weekly collection. These include freezer and sandwich bags, supermarket carriers, pedal bin liners and the bags that salad, bread and cereal are bought in.

This change - taking place in the Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe District Council areas - is set to increase the volume of food waste sent for treatment.

Previously, compostable bags were the only type of bag allowed in food recycling. However, we have been working with the operators of the plant, and they are now able to accept other kinds of bags too. The bags are all separated from the food when it is delivered to the plant, and the food waste is then processed, creating renewable electricity, and at the end of the process the digested food waste gets spread to land as a nutrition-rich fertiliser.

The Southern Districts, working with Buckinghamshire County Council, made this move after receiving feedback from residents saying that having to buy compostable bags was a barrier which tended to prevent them recycling their food waste. Using plastic bags and newspaper should encourage greater participation of the weekly food waste collection.